After listening to the suggestions of Chen Shao, Wan Yaohuang, Xu Yuanquan and others, Wang Zhenyu leaned back in the chair with a headache, motionless, and closed his eyes silently. Although Song Haomin, who had been transferred from the captain of the teaching team to Wang Zhenyu's confidential staff officer, was not very old, he knew that the brigade commander was a little uncomfortable. He immediately cleverly sent a bottle of wind oil essence and gently smeared it on the brigade commander's two temples, this thing can repel mosquitoes, and it is a necessary medicine for the officers and soldiers of the whole brigade on the boundary of this Jingzhou Mansion.

After feeling a burst of numbness and coolness, Wang Zhenyu opened his eyes, but his eyes were smoked by a pungent feeling. Song Haomin immediately handed over a handkerchief, Wang Zhenyu took it and wiped his eyes that were already crying, and suddenly felt a lot more energetic.

Now I finally feel that I can't do it in the future life, and I scold those who hold power for being incompetent at every turn, in fact, the most difficult thing in this world is to be in charge. Just look at the few things just reported, whether it is the establishment of a commercial town, or the construction of roads and bridges, or the establishment of a military academy, to improve the salary, that one does not require a lot of money. Although he took the opportunity of the Xinhai Revolution to make a fortune with his conscience, he couldn't help but spend a few times if he sat on the mountain and tossed it like this, let alone more than 10 million, even 100 million.

So Wang Zhenyu now has only one word in his heart, annoying.

Ye Zuwen looked at his future son-in-law with a smile, the more he looked at it, the more satisfied he became, of course he knew what Wang Zhenyu was bothering now, after all, when the Xinhai Revolution broke out, he was even more annoyed than Wang Zhenyu now, and it was all because of money.

Speaking of Wang Zhenyu's money, Ye Zuwen admired the courage of his future son-in-law, who dared to make any kind of money.

Hankou received 6 million yuan for the single piece of equipment, and then invested 2 million yuan in Liu Hongsheng's Hongsheng Company, paid 3 million yuan to Commander Huang in Nanjing's left-behind prefecture, and obtained a huge sum of 12 million yuan through arms transactions. In addition to the expenses of the Ninth Brigade in the past few months, there are still 11 million in Ye Zuwen's hands.

But just after listening to the report of the future son-in-law's subordinates, Ye Zuwen, the ** lake, knew that it was all money-eating projects with his fingers. If you only get in and out, it's not good.

However, he came this time to help his son-in-law get money, so don't look at Wang Zhenyu's eyebrows getting tighter and tighter, but Ye Zuwen is still in a good time, listening while drinking tea without hurry.

Now it's our father-in-law's turn to speak: "Wenzheng, before I came this time, I met a person, and this person told me something, I feel that you will be interested in this matter." ”

Wang Zhenyu's eyes lit up, and he leaned over and said, "Oh, Ye Lao, please speak." ”

"Cheng Zufu, Wen Zheng has never heard of it" Ye Zuwen didn't say it directly, just guided.

Wang Zhenyu shook his head a little embarrassed, in fact, there are countless celebrities, scholars, and experts in every era, but in China, which is in the official position, there are very few people who can appear in history textbooks.

Ye Zuwen seemed to expect Wang Zhenyu not to know, and said, "What about Governor Zhang Zhidong?" ”

Wang Zhenyu smiled at this time: "Who in the world doesn't know!" ”

Ye Zuwen nodded and continued: "When Zhang Zhidong was running a new deal in Hubei, he once opened a Hubei cement factory in Daye County, Hubei (now Huangshi City......"

It turned out that in 1907, Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, considered the needs of industrial development and Jihua established a cement factory in Hubei.

Cement, known at the time as Semendetu, was necessary for building roads, bridges, factories, etc. In 1905, Zhang Zhidong invited the cement factory together with the papermaking, tanning, tweed felt and other factories to attract investment, and specifically pointed out: "Daye produces a lot of cement materials. Since the lime kiln should be built in the area, the cost of purchasing machinery is not more than 200,000 taels of silver. He also predicted the prospects: "This kind of industry is a start-up, and it will be profitable." ”

In 1907, that is, at the beginning of the 33rd year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, Cheng Zufuyu, an alternate Taoist in Fujian and the premier of Shanghai Tsinghua Industrial Company, said that he was willing to recruit 300,000 taels of shares and silver to undertake the Hubei Cement Plant. Hubei Cement Factory is also the fifth cement plant in our history and the first cement plant named after cement, the other four are: Macao Qingzhou Cement Factory (1886), Tangshan Shimin Soil Factory (1889), Guangzhou Shimin Soil Factory (1905), and Dalian Onoda Ash Factory (1907).

However, it is a pity that because of all kinds of reasons that can be said and all kinds of reasons that cannot be said, Hubei Cement Plant has been a freak with congenital defects and insufficient acquired deficiencies from the beginning.

In a word, it is insufficient funds, although Cheng Zufu has the intention to set up a factory, but he suffers from insufficient funds, and the Quartet raises shares, but has little effect.

On May 2, 1909, the first production line of Hubei Cement Factory was completed and put into trial production, and the product trademark was "pagoda brand".

In July 1911, the second production line was completed and put into operation. The main equipment of the plant is 2 Φ2.1×35 m dry rotary kilns and 4 Φ1.8×7.8 m mills; In addition, there are stone rolling machines, coal mills, steam engines, generators, bale loading machines, material conveyors, lathes, planers and other supporting equipment. The design capacity is 200 tons of cement per day. The factory is equipped with 11 production departments, including stone rolling, raw material drying, raw meal, rotary kiln, coal mill, cement mill, packing, electrical and engine room, boiler room and repair room. The German Kreizmen was hired by Cheng Zufu as a technician.

However, all this was based on debts, in order to set up a factory, Cheng Zufu first approved by the Huguang Governor's Office, and borrowed a total of 130,000 taels of silver from Hubei Guanyin three times in February, August and October 1908; then used the company's shares and his real estate in Shanghai as collateral to borrow 680,000 taels from Jilin Guanyin; In 1910 and 1911, he borrowed 720,000 yen from Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan. The above loans totaled 1.5 million taels. Together with the 420,000 taels raised by Cheng Zufu, by 1911 the company had invested nearly 2 million taels, of which loans accounted for more than three-quarters. In the first two years of the construction of the Hubei plant, the company was still able to pay the interest on the debt.

According to Cheng Zufu's vision, in a few years, the company's debt is expected to be reduced to less than half of its capital.

But the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution shattered Cheng's dreams, as the fighting around Wuhan was fierce and the market was depressed due to the turbulence of the times. Under such circumstances, Hubei Cement Plant was unable to operate normally. By 1912, due to "financial stagnation, factory industry in danger, unsalable goods, and increased costs", the company's open and hidden losses had exceeded 400,000 yuan, and it was unable to repay the principal and interest of the debt.

At this time, the factory attracted the interest of Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation and the new Minister of Finance Zhou Xuexi's Qixin Ash Company.

Cheng Zufu was unwilling to hand over the foundation he had worked so hard to create, and after thinking about it, he decided to go to the already famous Hankou "West Ye" Ye Zuwen for help. Because of Liu Hongsheng's relationship, Ye Zuwen has fallen into a reputation in the business circle for being impatient and righteous.

Ye Zuwen's current mind is spent on the preparation of the shipping company, and he is naturally a little surprised by the sudden visit of Cheng Zufu, who is well-known in the three towns of Wuhan. The eldest son, Ye Guoxuan, paid more attention to the information in the business world, and was very clear about Cheng Zufu's recent situation, and roughly guessed the other party's intentions.

Ye Zuwen listened to the eldest son's analysis, and still decided to see the industrialist, although he did not reply on the spot, he agreed to consider it, and then took the eldest son to Jingzhou.

"Wenzheng, don't you know, Cheng Gongzhi is a real person, but Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation has registered with the Hubei Provincial Government, saying that it is going to seize the factory, what should you do if you see this?"

Cement factory, that's a good thing, Wang Zhenyu was tempted after hearing it.

In fact, the manufacture of cement is not difficult, and the raw materials are mainly limestone and sand. Wang Zhenyu, who came from later generations, knew that Jingzhou had them, and he had sufficient reserves, and he had a distant relative in Jingzhou who set up a cement factory in Jingzhou and made a lot of money.

Wang Zhenyu suddenly became interested, but after thinking for a while, he said: "Ye Gong, this factory is good, but there are too many debts. As far as I know, this amount is enough for us to build a new cement plant on a larger scale. ”

Ye Zuwen nodded and said, "That's right, but Wenzheng, these skilled workers and technicians can't be bought with money, they take time to cultivate." ”

Wang Zhenyu smiled: "Ye Gong, what's so difficult about this!" Let's get in touch with Cheng Gong well, and it won't end as soon as the golden cicada comes out of its shell. ”

Ye Guoxuan, who was sitting beside him without saying a word, was slightly stunned for a moment, but saw his father showing an appreciative expression: "Wenzheng, you, it's really a pity that you don't do business, so how about I go to a letter tonight and ask Cheng Gong to come over for an interview?" Wang Zhenyu held Ye Zuwen's hand and said: "Ye Gong, not to invite him for an interview, but to ask him to come and see the resources here, here we set up a joint venture factory, no matter what, 50% of the shares are to be given, as long as he can get workers and technicians, I am willing to pay for the introduction of a batch of new equipment......"

Ye Zuwen looked at Wang Zhenyu, who was confident, and said: "Wenzheng is bold, I can't reach it."

After saying this, Ye Zuwen suddenly patted the armrest and said: "By the way, look at my memory, I still have a letter from Mr. Hong Jiangzhu asking me to forward it here, Guoxuan, get up and give it to Wen Zheng to see." ”

Ye Guoxuan bowed down and took the order, leaving behind Wang Zhenyu who was confused, Mr. Hong Jiangzhu? A letter to yourself?

Wang Zhenyu took the letter from Ye Guoxuan's hand, and did not rush to open it, but looked at the envelope carefully.

At this time, Song Haomin came over with a pot of tea and refilled it for everyone one by one, Ye Zuwen took a sip a little leisurely, and then leaned on the chair and rubbed his hands, without speaking.

Wang Zhenyu asked while unpacking the envelope: "But that descendant is stronger than me, what do you want money for, and the descendant is not as good as me, what do you want money to do Zhu Zhida Zhu senior." ”

Ye Zuwen nodded lightly: "It is this person, on the waterway of the Yangtze River, this is an old-timer that everyone knows." ”

Wang Zhenyu also agreed: "The first time I heard President Chen mention this person, I was also impressed, and I was amazed. Well, by the way, Ye Weng, what is the history of this Hongjiang merchant gang? ”

Ye Zuwen has been traveling from south to north for many years, and he naturally knows some of Hongjiang's story, and his future son-in-law is willing to ask, and he is naturally happy to talk about it.

As a result, Wang Zhenyu forgot to read the letter.